Archive for the ‘In the Bleachers’ Category

This Tuesday, the Chicago Bulls played a close game against the Miami Heat. They lost in overtime, but if they had won, they would have tied their Eastern Conference Finals series at two games apiece. Last night, the Bulls got off to a good start against the Heat, but still managed to lose by blowing a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter. With that untimely collapse, they were eliminated. Even though the Bulls dropped four out of five games to Miami, each of their losses proved to be excruciatingly close. Perhaps with another year or two of seasoning, they’ll be able to win those nail-biters, but for now, the oh-so-close losses sting something fierce.

Last night, I had the privilege of watching the Chicago Bulls beat up on the Boston Celtics at the United Center. I don’t see a lot of basketball games in person, but I was glad I made an exception for this one. Ever since Michael Jordan retired, the Bulls have gone from terrible, to average, to being a team with a lot of “potential.” This year, they’re the best team in the Eastern Conference and stand a very good chance of winning 60 games. Last night, the Bulls thoroughly thrashed a team that came close to winning a championship in 2010. It was such an exciting game that it kept me focused for two-and-a-half hours. I didn’t eat stadium food, I didn’t chit-chat with my friends, and I didn’t get distracted by the “Swingin’ Seniors” dance troupe that stormed the court during a time-out. Go Bulls!

Say what you will about baseball, but America’s pastime does mirror the country in certain vital ways. The past 15 years, for example, saw recognizable maladies invade the game; trends like costlier tickets, an increased presence for large corporations, and a fascination with bratty millionaires took hold. But perhaps the most significant development of the bubble years was the growing number of Latino ballplayers. My hometown Chicago Cubs have three pitchers named Carlos (Silva, Zambrano, and Marmol, for the record) and it’s only a matter of time before all three of them appear in the same game. Nor is this trend confined to the field. When the Cubs sought to revive their sad-sack offense this past winter, to whom did they turn? A bilingual (and highly regarded) hitting coach, naturally.